China Merchants Bank is aiming to become the first major Chinese bank to provide customers with global foreign exchange data over the Internet. The bank has contracted with eBridge, the Internet subsidiary of Bridge Information Systems, to build the functionality for online FX reporting by end-2001.
Under the agreement, eBridge will supply advanced charting with 25-year historical data, real time FX quotes, global and regional news, watchlists, look-ups, search and rankings. eBridge will also provide personalisation tools such as individual portfolio watchlists for CMB Web users.
China Merchants Bank is regarded as one of the most technically advanced of the major banks in China. In consumer banking it was the first to implement Automated Teller Machines, retailer point-of-sale systems and Internet banking. Currently, the bank has a client base of 16 million customers with over a million registered as online banking users. It has recorded 350,000 registered users of its e-payment services.